Sochi 2014: Hanging out at the P&G Family Home

I’ve been spending a lot of time at the P&G Global Family Home here in Olympic Park, a site open to all athletes and their friends and families during the Games. ‘It’s a home-away-from-home for them,’ said Phil Duncan, P&G’s global design officer, at an open house on Monday.

Three-time Olympian Adam van Koeverden came by on Monday, too. (He’s here in Sochi as an analyst for the CBC.) Van Koeverden and his family spent time at the home located in London during the 2012 Summer Games. ‘P&G made the Olympics a little more accessible for my family, and so many families in London,’ says the sprint kayaker. ‘I’ve got a lot out of sport, and that’s due to the support of my mother, so it’s nice to see the support go in the other direction, too,’ he says, referring to P&G’s ‘Thank You Mom’ Olympic program.

I could have talked to Van Koeverden all day, but there were more pressing matters. Like getting a CoverGirl makeup touch-up at the P&G salon.

Here, athletes and their families can get their hair cut and coloured, a Gillette shave or a manicure. The manicurists can paint any country’s flag on nails (here’s a sample of the ‘fanicure’ options, below). I’ve seen many of the Canadian moms walk around with the maple leaf proudly displayed on their fingertips.

The home also offers free wifi, meals and snacks, and a Pampers changing station (a real luxury for moms as an alternative to the Olympic park’s port-a-potties). It’s fun to be here and play spot-the-mom: I’ve seen moguls skier Alexandre Bilodeau’s mother, Sylvie Michaud, come through, as well as Kate Virtue, mom of skater Tessa (pictured below between Cheryl Simundson, mom of bobsledder Kaillie Humphries, and Shanne Matthews, mom of halfpipe skier Rosalind Groenewoud.)

Visit the P&G Everyday Facebook page for the latest info on the Thank You Mom program.

‘Joana Lourenço